Google Sends Warnings for HTTP Sites

For the past several years, Google has been pushing site security to webmasters. HTTPS has been an organic ranking signal since at least 2014. When browsing on an HTTP website, instead of HTTPS, a third-party can insert ads that aren’t on the original webpage, inject cryptocurrency mining software (here is a popular example of this recently), or redirect you to a different site in order to steal your username and password.

HTTP Not Secure Warning

Starting July 24th, along with the launch of Google Chrome 68, Chrome will display “Not Secure” on the left of the address bar for non-secure, HTTP sites. This is like how they’ve been displaying “Secure” for HTTPS site. Here is an example Google gave in their preview of the update back in February: